Usual
by ravenlunatic96
Summary: Set post Conqueror of Shamballa. Oneshot about Alphonse and Earth's Wrath, Ari told from the eyes of an old woman. Cute and fluffy. Warnings:shonen-ai, Ari kisses Al on the cheek


Author Notes: Second story that I have posted…please don't flame too heavily! Post CoS by 5 years, Ari is the earth counterpart to Wrath

Warnings: Nothing…but shonen-ai and major fluff. And one boy-kissing scene.

Disclaimer: If I owned FMA, Wrath wouldn't have died.

Usual

Mathilda smiled as she saw that now oh-so-familiar blond head full of hair bobbing into her shop, the first customer of the day…as per usual.

The boy with sunshine hair walked up to the front counter, slightly wincing with each step as if expecting to hear a loud thud with each footfall. This made the old woman's crow feet around her eyes deepen.

"What can I get for ya, hon?" This question was more reflex than anything. She already knew what he would order. A cup of Lady Gray tea with a spoon of milk and three teaspoons of-

"Four pieces of toast with raspberry jam and a cup of coffee…black."

One blink.

Two blinks.

Did he just…did he just…order something other than his usual morning drink?

This boy who had been coming to her shop for two years now had never once change his pattern…what was so different about today? He didn't look much different…well, now that she looked at him, there were minor changes. His hair seemed to be slicker, as if he had spent an hour or so in front of a mirror with a bottle of hair oil. Also, his cheeks were slightly flushed, either from excitement or embarrassment, she couldn't tell. Those wide childlike eyes of his were glittering with…something.

Snapping out of her astonishment and registering that he had order and waiting for confirmation and the price; the snowy haired woman shook her head to reawaken herself and cleared her throat.

"That'll be $1.00." She said, trying to give her usual smile, but finding that she couldn't quite pull it off because how weird the day had become. Perhaps this was a bad omen, she thought fearfully. Today one her most frequent customers changed his order…tomorrow the apocalypse.

Smiling the boy handed her his money, and she mutely handed him his change.

Alphonse went to sit down at his usual table near the front window, and Mathilda sighed in relief that at least one thing was still normal…

Oh wait, she had spoken too soon.

He went up to the empty table next to the one that the usually occupied and grabbing on of its chairs he dragged it over to his table so that there were now two places to sit.

Quickly turning around to tell Mia, the girl who worked in the kitchen of the homey little shop, of the order, she raced back to the counter littered with knick knacks with price tags tied onto them with pieces of twine.

Up and down his foot jostled in obvious nervousness. Whomever he was expecting (for she was sure he was after the whole chair fiasco) had made him change so much, and the old lady found that she was almost as excited as he was to find out who had affected him this much.

She thought of all her regulars as family, and she was found of most, if not all of them. So of course she was morbidly curious as to what had one of her "sons" so ecstatic…or so she told herself.

The bell above the door rang as someone stepped in and both of them jumped…only to see that it was Old Man Miller, and she seriously doubted that he was the one… 'And I'm right.' She thought with not just a bit of relief when he walked right past Al.

Mia came out of the kitchen holding a silver tray with the toast, coffee, and jam in a little pot.

"What table is this for?" she asked, pushing back some of her rust colored hair.

"Alphonse's."

The younger woman wore the same expression that Mathilda was sure that she herself had been wearing when Alphonse had ordered.

"B-but…he never gets that!" If her hands hadn't been occupied with the tray, Mia would have been waving her arms in the air with bewilderment.

With a noncommittal shrug the older of the two turned back to watch the show.

The front door opened with a chime that wasn't out of the ordinary, but a boy that ordinarily would have not been stepping through the doorway.

Long black hair hung in matted clumps around an extremely pale, sallow, and grimy face. The clothes (which were torn at some places and fraying at the seams) hung from his meatless frame, and Mathilda swore that she could see his ribs and count each and every one.

Swiveling her head around so that she could see Alphonse's reaction to the newcomer, she saw that he was positevly beaming. The old gossiper watched as his cheeks turned red and he opened his mouth and waved. "Ari! Over here!"

Ari rolled his eyes and tromped over to the table by the window. "Of course I know that you're over there, stupid. You're the only one here besides that old hoot in the corner and that nosy busybody who's behind the counter who can't seem to keep her eyes to herself." Cutting his black eyes over to her she squeaked and dover under the cover of her counter, knocking a few of the objects over in the process.

As she stayed on the floor inspecting the various merchandise for cracks, she thought about why he would have been so happy to see the other. He seemed quite rude, and wasn't a very comely child.

Once she was done she peeked her head back over the top.

Ari was now sitting across from Alphonse, muddy feet propped up on it. Mathilda made a mental note to have Mia clean that up when the boys left.

The boy leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, looking uninterested as Alphonse leaned across the table, talking adamantly with wild gestures. Every now that then Ari would grunt or nod, and occasionally said a word or two.

The woman would have been utterly bored if not for how entertaining it was to see how the once Alchemist seemed to drink in everything that Ari did.

After the black haired one devoured all of the jam, and surely burnt his throat on the drink, they both stood up to leave.

Alphonse nervously twiddled his fingers, and Ari stuck his hands in his pocket, swaying uneasily from side to side.

'They're very cute together…like the sun and moon' she thought with a sigh.

"Well…bye." The urchin finally piped up, and dove his head in to give the slightly shorter boy a peck on the cheek.

Mathilda stood, mouth hanging slightly open. 'What?' her mind screamed. All other trains of thought had crashed into each other. 'Did he…? He did!'

She had almost missed it because of his veil of hair, and surely would have if she hadn't been watching them like a mother hawk.

The blonde blushed beet red, and stuttered out a "B-bye."

Then Ari left the store, leaving Al to slap his hand over his cheek in amazement. He looked like he had just died and gone to heaven.

Mathilda certainly hoped that this unusual happening became a usual one.

It wasn't every day that she got to see a young man so utterly and completely in love, she thought with a wry grin.


End file.
